The devastating 7.8 earthquake in Nepal last Saturday left thousands dead and tens of thousands of others homeless in the wake of this tragic natural disaster. The survivors are struggling to find shelter and after sundown the reality of their dire situation sets in with no electricity to no access to light for safety, cooking, reading, etc. But a new solar-powered, portable light source could make all the difference for Nepalese survivors. The SolarPuff is a little lantern that is making a huge impact, and now you can help make it even bigger. The lantern’s solar charging capabilities allow refugees to charge their lights at no cost during the day, providing a much-needed light source for cooking, washing and way-finding at night.

Right now, SolarPuff is offering Kickstarter rewards that will benefit the victims of the earthquake in Nepal. For $50, you can purchase a SolarPuff for yourself and one for Nepal Disaster Relief, or for $125 you can get three and give two. For the truly generous, they are even offering the option to send an entire box of SolarPuff’s to Nepal to help those who need it most right now. Check out their Kickstarter page to help make a difference.

It’s a heart-dropping feeling: you come back to the pole where you left your brand new bike and all you see is a dangling, clipped chain. Even as biking grows in popularity as a form of green transportation, worries about bicycle theft and vandalism still prevent many from taking it up. Reliance Foundry‘s bike lockers are a reliable, durable and secure solution that offers peace of mind to cyclists. The versatile, heavy-duty storage chambers are an ideal alternative to easily clippable chain locks, and a way to encourage more people to put down their car keys and pick up their bike helmets.

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The weather is warming up, and here in Canada (and most of the USA too, I'll bet), people are revelling in the warmer weather by spending as much time as possible in the great outdoors. Whether taking off into the woods and mountains for some backwoods camping or setting up "camp" in a friend's backyard, many folks will be eating, sleeping, cooking, and playing outside for the next few months, and a fair bit of equipment is needed for all of these activities. We've rounded up some of the best eco-friendly camping gear available to ensure the smallest possible environmental impact during our outdoor adventures.

Biber Architects just broke ground on the USA Pavilion, which will bring an incredible vertical farm to the 2015 Milan Expo! The international event, which attracts up to 20 million visitors each year, is always heavily centered around sustainable design, but each year, there is a specific theme for the pavilions. For 2015, the theme of the six month event is “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life” and from the looks of their design, Biber Architects have hit the nail on the head with their ultra high-tech green garden wall entitled "American Food 2.0."

The Urban Algae Canopy by ecoLogic Studio is a piece of bio-digital architecture that combines micro-algal cultures and real time digital cultivation protocols. To be displayed at Expo Milano 2015, the structure is able to control the flow of energy, water and carbon dioxide based on weather patterns, visitor's movements, and other environmental variables. It's the first of its kind in the world, and once fully completed, the canopy will be able to produce the oxygen equivalent of four hectares of woodland, along with nearly 330 pounds of biomass per day.

Most disposable stuff just sucks. Seriously, it really does. Society’s love of single-use items like disposable coffee pods, diapers, and cutlery has created so much unnecessary waste that our planet can barely keep up with the crap we’re loading into landfills every day. Those Swiffer-type cleaning tools are also on the “worst offenders” list, with their cleaning cloths that that get tossed away after a few minutes’ worth of use. Fortunately, the same folks who bring their own travel mugs to Starbucks can also keep their homes tidy by making their own re-usable covers for their sweepers.

Imagine what it would be like to live without electricity. If you wanted to do anything after sundown, such as cook, work or read, you would need a portable lantern like a kerosene lamp. The reality for the 1.6 billion people around the globe who don’t have access to electricity is that they need to rely on kerosene lamps, which are not only air-polluting, bad for respiratory health and create fire hazards, but also are extremely expensive to fuel. The ingeniously adorable Solarpuff solar lantern hopes to change that by providing a portable, safe, healthy and free nighttime light source to the billions of people around the globe who need it.

Sometimes, I sit in my lawn chair at night next to the campfire, and look at the big blue bus in my campsite spot—or wherever we may be at the moment—and I think: “Wow. This is all I own in the world.” Everything in the world that I have to my name is currently inside a 1975 International Harvester school bus, and really, we don’t have much. We bought the bus in Alaska and have driven it over 4,000 miles in 6 months, exploring the Yukon Territory, British Columbia, and the Pacific Northwest.

These magical little homes are perfect rainy-day crafts for kids of all ages, including 30-something creative types who just happen to have a penchant for all things mystical and adorable. They can be simple or ornate, mostly made from foraged bits or completely crafted from recycled materials—how you choose to construct yours is entirely up to you. The idea is to express creativity while creating adorable little refuges in which enchanting creatures may dwell.

More than four decades after the first Earth Day, there are still many environmental concerns for communities around the world to address; perhaps none so pressing as man-made climate change. But progress is being made, and it could be argued that awareness about environmental issues is at an all-time high. This Earth Day we're shining a light on the most pressing environmental concerns that affect us all, and showing what you can do to help restore ecological balance to this amazing place we call home.

In light of both Earth Day and Earth Week, I wanted to share what “Earth” means in the Feng Shui world. When people ask me to describe Feng Shui, I tell them that it’s about much more than moving furniture around. Feng Shui is the original “green design,” and it is about creating harmony with Mother Earth by unifying our inner and outer environments. The inner and outer are not separate, because everything that we do to our earth—positive and negative—affects our daily experience. In Feng Shui we believe that everything is alive, including the earth. Read on to learn more!

Happy Earth Day! Today is the day that many of us will contemplate our concerns over climate change, environmental destruction or dangers to our food supply, but do you know how this holiday first came to be? 42 years ago, the word “environment” was rarely used in daily conversation, until a picture in Time Magazine changed everything. Read on as we take a look back to the late 1960s to see why Earth Day started in the first place and how far society has come in caring for this planet we call home.

We have holidays dedicated to everything from flags to consumption (ahem Black Friday), so it only seems right that Planet Earth should get one too. On Earth Day, cities, businesses, and individuals all roll out the green carpet. No doubt you've seen lots of famous brands touting Earth Day initiatives or heard about eco-friendly events being planned in your own community. Unfortunately, most of these events have changed from "do something nice for the Earth" events to "buy this thing that is maybe a little greener than the alternative but mostly just something you need to BUY" events. But that doesn't mean you should hide indoors feeling guilty on April 22nd. On the contrary, there are lots of easy and fun ways to celebrate Earth Day that can actually make a difference all year long. We've listed a few below, and we'd love to hear your ideas in the comments!